Boy fantasy isn't all bad--I would classify GRRM in that genre too, but he transcends it. I have a somewhat (to quote Giles) plunge and move on methodology with fantasy, and an instinctive dislike for 1st person narration that it takes some doing to overcome, so I didn't give Rothfuss much time, but I know he's received very high praise and might end up revisiting him at some point.
I'm not feeling like the arbiter of excellent taste since I'm posting constantly about True Blood! Heh.
I know Ender's Game is a classic for a reason, and yet...
Obviously this isn't a list of the *best* sf/fantasy, but of the favorite sf/fantasy of people who know about the NPR website. Given that, I think it's got a great range of styles and writers and some surprisingly interesting stuff on it. It has books I hated (*ahem Thomas Covenant ahem*), books I loved, books I look forward to reading, and books I'll never pick up. I'm especially happy that "The Doomsday Book" and the Vorkosigan series are listed. I do wish Joanna Russ and Samuel R. Delany were on it, but you can't have everything.
I do think there's a nice range to the list. It is pretty heavily weighted towards the classics, which was interesting for me because my dad had a giant shelf of science fiction and when I was growing up, some of it appealed to me and some of it didn't, so I'd read some of them and totally skipped over others.
I really like Delany but the only book of his I've read is Dhalgren, which is something of a brilliant, hot mess. I have several of his straight SF books in the to-read pile; he was clearly a very interesting writer.
I've only ever read Delany's Neveryon books, and I found them mind-bending enough. Someday I'll give his more experimental stuff a try.
It's interesting for me, too, reading through the list, seeing which of the classics I've read, which ones I still want to read, and which ones my impulse is actively to avoid.
My reaction to this weeks TB can be summed up by WTF?! They nearly ruined Eric/Sookie for me. Not to mention, since Sookie has fed off Eric and Bill before without tripping out, I'm assuming the wacky love fest was caused by them feeding off each other at the same time?
I did enjoy Jessica, Jason and Bill's scenes. I even felt a bit sorry for Bill. I so DO NOT WANT he and Sookie to get back together, but I can sympathize that it has to hurt to see her with Eric. (And I'm over this Eric. We need Original Eric back asap.)
My reaction to this weeks TB can be summed up by WTF?! They nearly ruined Eric/Sookie for me. Not to mention, since Sookie has fed off Eric and Bill before without tripping out, I'm assuming the wacky love fest was caused by them feeding off each other at the same time?
Not that it's ever a good idea to take this show too seriously (GOOD LORD), but Sookie was quite clear about asking why Eric wanted her to drink his blood if she wasn't injured. So I think the distinction the show is drawing is that if you're injured, the blood is healing, but if you're not, psychedelia awaits.
(And I'm over this Eric. We need Original Eric back asap.)
Oh, I think that's going to happen fairly soon.
Deep breaths! This is True Blood we're talking about here. It's trashy vampire TV.
I've decided that I want Lafayette to channel the spirit of Godric to counter Marnie and Antonia. Why? Because it would be awesome. Do we really need any other reason?
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I'm not feeling like the arbiter of excellent taste since I'm posting constantly about True Blood! Heh.
I know Ender's Game is a classic for a reason, and yet...
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I really like Delany but the only book of his I've read is Dhalgren, which is something of a brilliant, hot mess. I have several of his straight SF books in the to-read pile; he was clearly a very interesting writer.
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It's interesting for me, too, reading through the list, seeing which of the classics I've read, which ones I still want to read, and which ones my impulse is actively to avoid.
Reply
I did enjoy Jessica, Jason and Bill's scenes. I even felt a bit sorry for Bill. I so DO NOT WANT he and Sookie to get back together, but I can sympathize that it has to hurt to see her with Eric. (And I'm over this Eric. We need Original Eric back asap.)
Reply
Not that it's ever a good idea to take this show too seriously (GOOD LORD), but Sookie was quite clear about asking why Eric wanted her to drink his blood if she wasn't injured. So I think the distinction the show is drawing is that if you're injured, the blood is healing, but if you're not, psychedelia awaits.
(And I'm over this Eric. We need Original Eric back asap.)
Oh, I think that's going to happen fairly soon.
Deep breaths! This is True Blood we're talking about here. It's trashy vampire TV.
Reply
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